This post appears cour­tesy of Gen­er­a­tion Res­cue.

7 Tips for Man­ag­ing Your Kid’s Hal­loween Expectations

Hal­loween, one of everyone’s favorite times of year, is just around the cor­ner. And so are all the can­dies your kids can’t eat. Never fear, here are a few tips to help your kids enjoy All Hallow’s Eve.

1. Safe Candy
   Sure Foods Liv­ing, a won­der­ful gluten-free blog by Ali­son St. Sure, is always a great resource for the do’s and don’t of gluten-free Hal­loween candy for those of us who are rid­dled with food intol­er­ances and aller­gies.
   
   
2. Dyes
   I don’t know about your kids, but dyes affect both of my kids in the form of nau­sea. At the end of the night when the kids are horse-trading candy with their friends, we move all can­dies con­tain­ing dyes to the “trade” pile.
   
   
3. Refo­cus
   Lots of chil­dren deal­ing with Celiac Dis­ease and gluten issues also deal with an over-production of yeast in their sys­tems, which can take the form of Can­dida. I know it sounds like slay­ing a dragon with a fly­swat­ter, but you can help by re-focusing Hal­loween onto less sug­ary endeav­ors. This is one of the rea­sons we throw a kid’s Hal­loween Party each year. The candy we do have is always gluten-free and there is not an abun­dance of it. There is, how­ever, toss­ing of bean bags, catch­ing of mini candy bars in a plas­tic bucket duct-taped to the children’s waists (try this – it’s really fun), and eye-ball in a spoon races.
   
   
4. Fun in the Kitchen
   Pizza mak­ing, using gluten-free rice tor­tillas, can be a great way to enjoy Hal­loween fun and nutri­tion at the same time. Using bloody tomato sauce beneath Daiya non-diary cheese, olives for eyes and red pep­pers for scars, your kids can pro­duce a work of art they can eat with dev­il­ish aban­don. Throw in Hard-BoiledEgg Spi­ders and you’ve got a bit of pro­tein to boot. A sweet, but not overly sug­ary item to bake with your kids is Pump­kin Spice Cook­ies, because really, if you elim­i­nate all sugar on this favorite fall day, your kids might chase you with pitch­forks.
   
   
5. Give Back
   My nine year old delights in hand­ing candy out to kids. He does a lap or two around the neigh­bor­hood with his friends, but then he always comes back and hands out candy with me. Get­ting your kids to refo­cus from the receiv­ing to the giv­ing allows them to take a break from all the stuff they shouldn’t be eat­ing any­how, while expe­ri­enc­ing the joy of other lit­tle expec­tant faces when plac­ing treats in their bags.
   
   
6. The Set-Up
   If your kids have hor­ri­ble reac­tions to sugar and dyes, take the oppor­tu­nity to touch base with your neigh­bors, giv­ing them a few diet appro­pri­ate pack­aged items (pret­zels, energy bars) to hand out to your child. You could sup­ply them with a lit­tle box with a dol­lar in it, or a small toy. This way, they get a treat AND a trick, and they’re none the wiser.
   
   
7. The Give­away
   Most schools have a candy drive where kids bring in all their left­over candy, which is shipped to our troops over­seas. It’s a great way to purge and feel good about sup­port­ing our mil­i­tary. If your school doesn’t have such a pro­gram, set one up of your own!

Wish­ing you a Happy and safe Halloween!

About the Author: Amy Waczek writes a gluten-free, casein and soy optional blog fea­tur­ing a recipe index and resource guide atwww.amysglutenfreepantry.com.